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Job 32:4

in Job 32

Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now Elihu had waited to speak unto Job, because they were elder than he.

KJV

Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they were elder than he.

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This verse in Job 32

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
Elihu therefore waited while Job was speaking, because they who were speaking were his elders. But when he had seen that the three were not able to answer, he was very wroth. Though Holy Church is unquestionably older than her adversaries, (for they went forth from her, not she from them, as is said of them by John, They went out from us, but they were not of us,) yet Eliu is properly described as having been younger than these same adversaries.

This site's exposition

Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job

on Job 32:4-5

“Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he”. Clarke reads it as the mark of a man who kept the custom of age until it produced nothing. Wesley notes that the anger was aimed at an unanswered case, more than at any word spoken.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

The text shows the reason why Eliud had previously not answered Job in anyway when it says, "Therefore Eliud waited for Job to speak," without contradicting his speeches, "because those who spoke were his elders," deferring to them as though to wiser men, and because …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

7 I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom. 8 But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. 9 Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Now Elihu had waited - Margin, as in Hebrew, expected Job in words. The meaning is plain, that he had waited until all who were older than himself had spoken. Because they were elder than he - Margin, as in Hebrew, older for days. It appears that they were all older than he was. We have no means of determining their respective ages, though it would seem probable that Eliphaz was the oldest of the three friends, as he uniformly spoke first.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

had spoken--Hebrew, "in words," referring rather to his own "words" of reply, which he had long ago ready, but kept back in deference to the seniority of the friends who spoke.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וֶֽאֱלִיה֗וּand Elihu

    veelihuH453 →11 times

  • חִכָּ֣הhe had waited

    chikahH2442 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אִ֭יּוֹבJob

    ʾiyovH347 →58 times

  • בִּדְבָרִ֑יםin words

    bidvarimH1697 →1440 times

  • כִּ֤יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • זְֽקֵנִים־[were] old

    zekenim-H2205 →178 times

  • הֵ֖מָּהthey

    hemahH1992 →553 times

  • מִמֶּ֣נּוּmore than him

    mimenuH4480 →1188 times

  • לְיָמִֽים׃to days

    leyamimH3117 →2304 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Proverbs 18:13

    He who answers a matter before he hears it—this is folly and disgrace to him.

    it leads to

    • John 7:51

      “Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?”

    • Deuteronomy 13:14

      then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,

    • Proverbs 20:25

      It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.

    • Job 29:16

      I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

    • Esther 8:5–17

      “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order…

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job: the study guide →Read Job 32 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.

Read on in Job 32 →